The Phillies Collector

2015 Phillies Early Bird Gifts

UPDATE (1/17/15):

Full-plan season ticket holders who paid their accounts in full by the "early bird" cut-off date (11/14/14) have begun receiving their Dick Perez prints!  The print, which is numbered to 500, shows Phillies hit-leaders Jimmy Rollins and Mike Schmidt celebrating on-field at Citizens Bank Park.  It is also signed and numbered by sports artist, Dick Perez in the bottom margin.

In light of Rollins' recent trading, there has been some discussion in the collecting community about whether or not the team would still move forward with promos depicting the former shortstop.  In this case the team really had no choice - changing the early bird reward would be a serious case of bait-and-switch.  Guess we'll see what happens with the planned Group Leader bobble head...

Thanks to fellow collector Justin (@jusbuss) for sharing a photo of his print!

If you are a Phillies season ticket holder, you are likely well aware of the fast approaching early payment deadline.  It is an important date, as any full or partial plans which are paid in full by Friday, November 14th will receive a free Phillies-themed gift.

The gifts for full plans have recently been lithographs depicting an important player, or moment from the prior season.  Numbered and signed by artist Dick Perez, they are usually valuable collectibles and excellent autograph mediums.  Many collectors will be happy to hear the team is staying true to tradition and will again offer a new print - picturing Phillies legends Mike Schmidt and Jimmy Rollins.  No image is posted on Phillies.com.

The other side of the coin is the partial plan gift - which most years is forgettable.  This season's prize will be a Phillies sport bag.  As a long-time partial ticket plan holder I always felt my early commitment was undervalued.  To me, this is no incentive at all...